The Cypress Tree

This painting of cypress trees is by Doug Moulden. It's called "The Five Brothers" after I told him a story about my brothers. You can see his paintings here https://www.douglasmoulden.com

                 The Cypress Tree

A cypress tree is not often confused
                with any other tree.
      It is always a deep green spear,
         always stabbing into the sky,
                     with a ratio of
                 many parts height
                 to few parts width.

         He is a tightly bundled thing
         like a Christmas fir wrapped,
            trussed onto the rooftop
           of a sedan heading home.
                 He is often solitary
     but when brought into formation,
               shoulder to shoulder,
         there is no more formidable
        barrier to entry or wind block.

              He flanks the borders
         of uncounted French fields,
       bending to the mighty Mistral
                 but never yielding.

The Mistral is a wind that blows like a fury down in the south of France.

Looking down this lane flanked by cypress gives you the feeling.

These windows on a church in Colmar, France remind me of the elegance of a cypress.